Wolves make it close, but make it 9 in a row

The loss against the Blazers had a bit more drama than others in the streak.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: March 8, 2009 - 1:04 AM

PORTLAND, ORE. — Timberwolves guard Randy Foye, despite his nickname, has missed big shots at the end of games before and he will miss them again.

But the pain that flashed across his face -- and not in his hip -- and the way he buried his head in assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff's chest after Saturday's last-gasp 95-93 loss at Portland illustrated without doubt that this buzzer-beater wasn't just another miss.

"No, it wasn't," he said afterward. "Man, I wanted that shot."

Foye returned Saturday after missing Friday's game in Los Angeles because of an injured hip. The guy they started calling Fourth-Quarter Foye during his rookie NBA season played 32 minutes and scored 23 points off the bench but couldn't keep the Wolves' losing streak from reaching nine games, not after his potential winning three-pointer at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and bounded away.

"I just knew that was going in," he said.

It didn't, not on a night when the Wolves struggled back from a nine-point deficit with 5:21 left only to finally, inevitably see Brandon Roy and the long and lively Blazers beat them for the fourth and final time this season.

Roy, a Timberwolf for about 12 minutes on draft night three years ago, scored 31 points Saturday, including the eventual winning points on a short, soft running jumper from the lane with 1:02 left

"Luckily, Brandon's on our team," said Blazers center Joel Przybilla, former Gopher and Minnesotan.

Ouch.

The Wolves delivered a late 9-2 run that cut an 88-79 deficit to 90-88 with two minutes left. Foye then drove for the tying basket, but he went down in a heap, his body going one way, his shot another, and while Wolves coach Kevin McHale screamed for a foul call that never came, Travis Outlaw finished the sequence at the floor's other end by soaring over Kevin Love's for a theatrical putback slam dunk off a missed three-pointer that repelled the Wolves' run with 1:23 left.

"We didn't get the call," McHale said glumly. "You saw the game."

Outlaw's offensive rebound was one of 16 the Blazers had on Saturday. It certainly was the most impressive one, and probably the most important.

"That guy's a freak, man," Love said. "That's all I can say. That was a great dunk."

Foye countered with a pair of free throws, Roy answered with that running 5-footer to put the lead back at four points with 1:02 left.

The Wolves, though, refused to go away on a night when the Blazers for far too long might have been anticipating Monday's big home game against the Los Angeles Lakers instead.

Ryan Gomes finished off his season-high 28-point night with a three-pointer that brought the Wolves within 94-93 with 10.6 seconds left. They then immediately fouled Roy, who made the first free throw but missed the second with 8.3 seconds left.

Suddenly, the Wolves had the ball and the final shot.

It bounced away.

"I thought it was going in, but it hit back rim and came out," Love said. "Randy's going to hit a lot of those in his career. He'll be fine."

Recent Timberwolves stories

Rajon Rondo has 22 points, 14 assists in Boston's 107-102 win over Miami - March 8, 2009

Rajon Rondo has 22 points, 14 assists in Boston's 107-102 win over Miami - Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists in his second straight outstanding game against the Miami Heat, leading the Boston Celtics to a 107-102 victory Wednesday night. More